Adessium Foundation turns 20 in 2025. We’re marking this milestone by looking back with a number of organizations we’ve collaborated with over the years. This time, we’re speaking with Quiet Nederland.

Giving poverty a face

Quiet Nederland is committed to supporting people living in poverty. Through its publication Quiet 500, a playful counterpoint to the Dutch Quote 500 rich list, Quiet shines a light on the reality of hidden poverty. Across the country, the organization has set up welcoming community spaces where people can drop in for a cup of coffee and access a variety of forms of support.

Tjerk-Martijn Mulder, Quiet’s managing director, explains: “Poverty is not only a lack of money, it’s also a lack of connection. People are often ashamed of being poor, and that causes them to withdraw from society. Our Quiet Communities, that’s what we call our meeting places, offer small moments of joy.”

“These moments range from a free haircut to a concert ticket, or from a computer course to dinner out. Each of our members receives eight to twelve of these joy moments per year. Our hope is that these experiences help people re-engage and participate more fully in social life. That’s how we aim to empower them.”

Built on trust

“Each Quiet Community partners with a large network of local donors to offer these joy moments. But we don’t ask for money: we ask for talent. A local hairdresser might offer a free haircut, for example.”

“Our members can also share their own skills. Someone who’s handy might join our fix-it team and help other members, and themselves, by building new connections. But nothing is expected. If someone just wants to drop in for a cup of coffee, that’s perfectly fine. You can simply be who you are. We work from a place of trust. No one has to prove they’re poor. Just walking in the door is enough.”

Forward-looking energy

“That sense of trust is something we also experience in our relationship with Adessium. They’ve said, ‘We believe in what you’re doing and we want to support you.’ On top of that, they’re a true thought partner. They help us ask critical questions and think through challenges, like how to measure the impact of what we do.”

“But we don’t want to measure impact in euros: we want to measure what it means to each individual. We’ve had rich conversations about this with Adessium. They’re so deeply engaged. From the very beginning, it felt like we were in this together. I call it forward-looking energy.”